NB30-39 Women: Lyons-Justus Runs Away With It at Tahoe

• Brooke Lyons-Justus won the NB30-39 field in 1:41:12 (14:48/mi), finishing more than 17 minutes clear of second place.
• Lyons-Justus posted the 4th-fastest women's split on the Snow King→Finish segment, the strongest closing leg in her group.
• Lauren Baker and Morgan Bartholomew were separated by just 1:24 at the line — Baker edging it in 1:58:26 to Bartholomew's 1:59:50.
• Bartholomew countered with the 8th-fastest women's split on the Olympic Valley East→Snow King leg, keeping the battle for the podium alive deep into the race.

Conditions on race day were near-ideal — 59°F, clear skies, and barely a breath of wind — but the course itself is the real story at Broken Arrow. Running between roughly 6,200 and 7,500 feet, the thin air at Palisades Tahoe demands something extra from every athlete, particularly those who train closer to sea level in cities like Oakland and Portland.

Brooke Lyons-Justus left no doubt from the start. Sitting 4th among women early in the race, she held that position through the mid-race checkpoint before settling into 5th among the women by the finish — and all the while she was pulling away from her NB30-39 rivals at a pace of 14:48 per mile, a full 2:32 per mile faster than anyone else in the group. Her Snow King→Finish split ranked 4th among all women on that closing stretch, a sharp performance when it counted most.

Behind her, Lauren Baker and Morgan Bartholomew waged their own compelling duel. Bartholomew actually held the edge on the Olympic Valley East→Snow King leg — her 8th-fastest women's split on that stretch helped her briefly move ahead of Baker in the women's standings. But Baker answered on the run home, logging the 6th-fastest women's split into the finish and reclaiming second in the NB30-39 standings by 1:24. Both women crossed inside two hours on a course that earns every minute it takes.